Journal d'ophtalmologie clinique et expérimentale
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Investigation of Electrolyte Changes in Bovine Vitreous at Different Postmortem Interval

Gladys Ovigue George and Olajire Bosede Ajayi

Objective: Investigation of the changes in electrolyte level in the Bovine vitreous at different postmortem interval under two different temperature conditions.
Methods: Ninety eight bovine right eyes from freshly slaughtered healthy cows were gotten from the government abattoir in Edo State, Nigeria. They were divided into two sets; forty nine right eyes were kept at 32°C while forty nine right eyes were kept at 4°C in a mobile refrigerator. The samples of vitreous were carefully aspirated from the bovine eyes within an hour of death of the animals. Measurements of the levels of cations (sodium and potassium) and anions (chloride and bicarbonate) were taken at various postmortem intervals of 2, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 hours, using E110111 Flame Photometer.
Results: There was a statistically significant increase (p<0.05) in the potassium ion level with increased postmortem interval (PMI) at 4°C and 32°C. There were significant reductions (p<0.05) in sodium, chloride and bicarbonate ion levels with increased postmortem interval at 32°C, but at 4°C, the reduction in chloride ion level was not significant. The results also showed that the changes in cations and anions levels varied under the two temperature conditions after death.
Conclusion: The level of potassium ion increased after death, but sodium, chloride and bicarbonate ion levels in the vitreous humour of bovine eyes decreased after death. Likewise temperature affected the level of anions and cations in the bovine vitreous after death.